Russian Caspian missiles ‘fell in Iran’

Four Russian cruise missiles fired at Syria from the Caspian Sea landed in Iran, unnamed US officials say. It was unclear whether the missiles caused any damage, they said.

On Wednesday, Russia said it had fired 26 missiles at 11 targets in north and north-west Syria – about 1,500km away. On Thursday, it reiterated that all the rockets hit their targets. The news came as NATO renewed assurances to defend its allies in view of Russia’s “escalation” in Syria. Russia’s ambassador to Ankara had earlier been summoned three times in response to recent violations of Turkey’s airspace. Turkey is a NATO member. The military alliance is also boosting its response forces to be able to deploy troops speedily.

Iran’s IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday that an unknown flying object had crashed in the village of Ghozghapan in the Iranian province of West Azerbaijan, said to be under the missiles’ flight path.

But conservative Iranian media described the reports of missiles landing in Iran as “psychological operations by the US against Moscow”.

“Since Russia began its operations in Syria, Western media and officials have launched an all-out assault against Moscow,” the Fars News Agency, thought to have close affiliations with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said. Russia’s defence ministry also denied the reports.
“Any professional knows that during these operations we always fix the target before and after impact. All our cruise missiles hit their target,” said spokesman Gen Igor Konashenkov.(BBC)